Extended Schools Update

The Research Centre for Learning and Teaching (CfLaT), have recently been awarded a second contract with Optimus Publishing, this time to deliver ‘Extended Schools Update’. This magazine-style publication is published ten times a year and is aimed at extended school co-ordinators and multi-disciplinary staff working in both primary and secondary schools across the country. It comes at a time when all schools are expected to develop as extended schools and deliver a core offer of extended provision by 2010.

The Extended Schools Update offers extended school co-ordinators and others with responsibility for developing, co-ordinating and delivering core offer provision, the practical advice, support and reassurance which will help them with this task. The focus of this publication is on sharing good practice and the case studies from schools and other contributors will focus on pertinent issues for extended schools such as:
•collaborating with multi-agency partners;
•developing core offer extended schools provision;
•a varied menu of activities including study support and clubs outside of school hours;
•swift and easy referral and access to a range of specialist support services;
•parenting and family support;
•community use of facilities; and wraparound childcare
•embedding extended schooling with educational and wider strategies including the Every Child Matters agenda.

Extended Schools Update will also help keep schools up to date with key policy developments, research publications and relevant resources and will offer authoritative guidance on how extended schools might achieve learning and wider outcomes for students, families and the wider community.

Each issue will incorporate 2 case studies from schools, a ‘focus on’ piece and a feature we are calling ‘a day in the life.’ Each of these different aspects will help schools in their development as extended schools by generating new ideas to deliver the core offer and offering advice from experienced case study schools on a range of pertinent issues such as setting up parenting strategies, engaging the local community, establishing childcare and so on. It will also identify different ways to help sustain and further develop extended schools provision and to engage multi-agency partners so that joined up thinking and action becomes a reality.

Following on from the success of the Learning and Teaching Update, this is the second publication in the Update series that CfLaT has been awarded. It will become the latest in the Update series including G&T Update, SENCO Update and Curriculum Update.
The publication is edited by Colleen Cummings with regular features from colleagues in CfLaT. The first issue will be produced in December 2007.